Civics

Overview | Why do candidates for public office often become best known for just one action, stance or personality trait? How do narrow, popular definitions of politicians affect our electoral process? In this lesson, students examine how the current candidates for president of the United States have become defined in the media and create equally applicable alternate definitions for each candidate.

As they watch, students should jot down in their notebooks the tagline and description provided for each candidate. Afterwards, elicit the taglines and other key words for each candidate, and write them on the board. Ask: What do these “titles” imply? If all you knew about each candidate was this title, who would you tend to favor? Why? Who would you count out? Why? What do these titles tell us about how each of these candidates would govern if they were to be elected?

Next, ask students if they know of any contemporary or historical politicians who became negatively defined after making a political blunder – or positively defined in a fixed way. If they don’t offer them on their own, introduce a handful of the political blunders chronicled on Daily Kos. Choose several of these moments and show students the included clips and descriptors.

Alternatively, show students photographs of past political leaders and candidates with whom they are familiar and have them share the first phrase that comes to mind. Did these phrases originate with the leaders themselves, like Sen. John McCain’s “maverick,” or stem from others’ characterizations?

Hold a brief discussion focused on the following questions: How much information do these titles convey? How do these types of descriptions emerge? How much does it matter how candidates are described and portrayed in the media? How much power do you think definitions like these have over voters? In what ways are they both helpful and harmful to voters? In what ways are they both helpful and harmful to candidates?

Related | In his Op-Ed column “Fill In the Blanks,” Mr. Keller argues that President Obama has failed to define himself during his first term, leaving him open to being defined, and defeated, by the opposition:

It’s not just that he has failed to own his successes. He has in a sense failed to define himself. He is one of our more elusive presidents, not deeply rooted in any place or movement. David Remnick’s biography called Obama a shape-shifter. At the fringes, that makes him vulnerable to conspiratorial slanders: he is a socialist, a foreign imposter, a jihadist, an adherent of black liberation theology. To a less paranoid audience, his affect comes across as aloofness or ambivalence.

Personally, I can stand a little ambivalence in our leaders, particularly compared with the blinkered certitude of the previous administration. But in politics there are few greater liabilities than a perceived lack of definition.

Read the entire article with your class, using the questions below.

Questions | For discussion and reading comprehension:

What does Mr. Keller mean when he says that “in politics there are few greater liabilities than a perceived lack of definition”? Why?

What evidence does he offer to support his assertion that President Obama has failed to define himself? Do you agree or disagree?

How does the column characterize the current political climate with respect to Mr. Obama? Do you agree or disagree with this characterization?

How does Mr. Keller believe the Republican presidential candidates have defined themselves, and how is this advantageous?

Based on this column and on your previous knowledge, how do you think Mr. Obama has been defined from both the right and the left?

Around the Web

Activity | Tell students that they will work in small groups to define a current presidential candidate. Divide the class into groups, and assign each one a declared candidate, including President Obama. (You may also want to include possible candidates, like Sarah Palin.)

Tell students to mine The New York Times and other resources to discover how their assigned candidate is currently being defined in the media, by other candidates and by their own campaign. Good starting points include The Times’s Election 2012 feature, which includes profiles of each Republican candidate as well as links to articles about them, and the Times Topics pages, as well as politics coverage. Be sure, though, that students consult at least five wide-ranging yet reliable resources to get different perspectives.

Each group should do the following:

Collect and record quotations that describe your assigned candidate: adjectives, descriptive phrases, slogans, political stances, and other descriptive text. For each one, note who is describing the candidate this way (a journalist, an opponent, the candidate him or herself, etc.).

As a group, reflect on the quotations and descriptions, and try to find evidence that they have resonated with voters, influenced opponents’ strategies or are otherwise powerful. (For example, they might find a speech in which the candidate addresses how he or she has been characterized, as when Al Gore, accepting the Democratic nomination for president, said, “I know I won’t always be the most exciting politician,” or when Christine O’Donnell, while running to represent Delaware in the Senate, appeared in a campaign commercial declaring, “I’m not a witch.”)

Create a brief title, like “The Decider,” “The Businessman” or “The Diplomat,” the group believes best embodies their assigned candidate. (They might create two titles: one to be used by the campaign and supporters, and one to be used by opponents.)

Reflect on information about this candidate that doesn’t seem to fit with the descriptions they found and created. List specific divergent positions, personality traits and actions.

Write an alternate tag line for this candidate that embodies his or her less-often-mentioned stances or characteristics.

If time allows, groups can also interview or poll members of the school community to find out how they would describe or characterize their assigned candidate.

When group work is complete, have all the groups share their findings and creations, and record them all in a chart on the board. Then hold a group discussion. How much do the narrow definitions of presidential candidates created by their opposition, their own campaigns and the media shape our electoral process? How much information do these descriptions convey? Why do they think some definitions stick, while others fade away? Do candidates generally have some control over how they get defined? How are these kinds of narrow definitions of a candidate helpful, and how are they misleading? After examining how candidates get defined, what advice do you have for voters? What advice do you have for candidates? If you were going to run for office, what would you be sure to do now that you know more about how candidates get narrowly defined?

Going Further | Groups create scripts for two radio advertisements: one that promotes their assigned candidate and one that opposes his or her candidacy. Each advertisement should include a defining tag line and at least three fact-based reasons why it accurately describes the candidate about things like the candidate’s voting record, speech excerpts, professional accomplishments, important endorsements and so on.

To accompany these advertisements, they write a brief paragraph about what they have learned about politics, the media and civic participation from this activity.

When scripts are finished, groups share them with the class and share reactions.

Civics
1. Understands ideas about civic life, politics, and government.
9. Understands the importance of Americans sharing and supporting certain values, beliefs, and principles of American constitutional democracy.
11. Understand the role of diversity in American life and the importance of shared values, political beliefs, and civic beliefs in an increasingly diverse American society.
13. Understands the character of American political and social conflict and factors that tend to prevent or lower its intensity.
14. Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideas and reality in American political and social life.
17. Understands issues concerning the relationship between state and local governments and the national government and issues pertaining to representation at all three levels of government.
20. Understands the roles of political parties, campaigns, elections, and associations and groups in American politics.
21. Understands the formation and implementation of public policy.
27. Understands how certain character traits enhance citizens’ ability to fulfill personal and civic responsibilities.
29. Understand the importance of political leadership, public service, and a knowledgeable citizenry in American constitutional democracy.

Language Arts
1. Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process.
4. Gathers and uses information for research purposes.
7. Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies for reading a variety of informational texts.

Behavioral Studies
4. Understand conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among individuals, groups and institutions.
43. Understands the roles of marketing and the impact of marketing on the individual, business and society.
44. Understand how external factors and competition influence or dictate marketing decisions.
46. Understands characteristics of a market and strategies used to deal with a diversified marketplace.

Life Skills: Thinking and Reasoning
1. Understands and applies the basic principles of presenting an argument.
3. Effectively uses mental processes that are based on identifying similarities and differences.
6. Applies decision-making techniques.

Life Skills: Working with Others
1. Contributes to the overall effort of a group.
4. Displays effective interpersonal communication skills.